Rolled membrane materials having a pre-applied seam tape have been used for creating a moisture barrier in many applications such as pond liners, roofing membranes, moisture barriers, etc. For many applications, rolled membranes require lap seams for full coverage and moisture protection. For example, a roof may be wider than a rolled membrane, requiring several sections of membrane, joined together, to cover the entire roof surface. A pre-applied seam tape allows for easy installation at a job-site.
Rolling a membrane with a pre-applied seam tape can be challenging because of the added thickness of the seam tape at one edge. A rolled membrane with pre-applied seam tape tends to telescope and roll unevenly. Such deficiencies make the manufacture, shipping, and installation of the rolled membrane difficult. Uneven and telescoping rolls are difficult and inefficient to ship because the uneven roll takes more space than necessary, and extended edges are easily damaged.
Drawing upon well-known techniques, one conventional solution to the problem of uneven rolling is to include strips of material having approximately the same thickness as the seam tape along the body of the rolled membrane. This approach, however, does not adequately solve the problems presented by rolled membranes with pre-applied seam tape. Strips of material with a thickness approximately the same thickness as the seam tape allow compression of the seam tape. When the seam tape is allowed to compress, the adhesive's effectiveness can be diminished and/or the tape can otherwise become damaged. Additionally, rolled membranes with strips of material having a thickness approximately the same thickness as the seam tape tend to become loosely wound, causing telescoping and damage to the membrane and/or the seam tape during storage and transportation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a uniformly rolled membrane having a pre-applied seam tape wherein the seam tape and membrane are protected from damage during the rolling process and in the rolled condition.